Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Architect: Barry Padolsky Associates Inc. Architects and KPMB Architects (advocate architects) / EBC Inc., DevMcGill and Groupe Germain with Régis Côté et Associés (DBFM consortium) / LEMAYMICHAUD (private-sector tower architects)

The Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) is an essential component of a mixed-use development that will see the downtown core of Ottawa transformed by the advent of its first light-rail transit. Purpose-built to showcase the arts of the Ottawa and Gatineau region, the new gallery realizes a decade-long dream for a standalone, state-of-the-art museum. The architecture exemplifies the idea of the museum as a social gathering place. The white cubist form achieves a bold, visible and contemporary architectural presence for the OAG within the urban fabric of glass office towers and 19th-century stone and brick masonry buildings.


Photo Credit: Adrien Williams

The first visual-arts public-private partnership (P3) complex in North America, the OAG expansion opened in April 2018 and welcomed over three times the anticipated number of visitors in its first year. The white cubic form achieves a bold, visible contemporary presence for the OAG within the National Capital. The building façade features a programmable colour LED façade, a concave surface for commissioned public artworks by the regional arts community.


Photo Credit: Adrien Williams

In a precinct defined by heritage architecture and Brutalist-era architecture, the white 'cubist' composition creates a striking contrast to its context of grey glass and masonry office towers. Two barrier-free entrances are linked, providing east-west pedestrian connectivity through the ground level. A signature destination restaurant/café, open to the public daily and in the evenings, has further activated the neighborhood's revitalization.


Photo Credit: Adrien Williams

The design contributes new cultural and social infrastructure within the smallest ecological footprint in its overall lifecycle. Three strategic objectives directed the project context and LEED Silver target: contributing significantly to the artistic, cultural, social, and environmental life of the city; reducing the consumption of materials, potable water, and energy; and prioritizing the quality of indoor air and improving well-being and health of occupants. The project demonstrates sustainable urban densification onsite and also supports the idea of public-private partnerships to finance public infrastructure.


Photo Credit: Adrien Williams

The OAG is a beacon for culture in the city. The architecture evolves the gallery’s role from exhibition and education to social engagement and creates a meeting place to promote exchange between artists and the local, regional, and Indigenous communities. The inclusive, highly accessible, and culturally safe environment invites exploration and reflection on diversity and social change through a spectrum of regional visual arts practices in a national and international context.

Space, circulation, and details are synergized to create an accessible, welcoming destination. The lobby/bar/restaurant is a 'third space,' and the range of flexible, adaptable spaces fulfils the OAG's mandate to serve community needs and foster artist and audience engagement from diverse cultural communities.

This blOAAg post is part of a series exploring the OAA’s 17 Design Excellence Finalists for 2022, as selected by our jury. 
Click here to see other projects from this current award cycle.